R sig jobs - Mar 2012 - Job in Scotland - Analyst Programmer/Data Warehouse Manager

Grade:                 Grade 7 - 8 depending on experience and skills
Salary range:        Grade 7 (spine point 29; ?29,099)  up to grade 8 (point 40;
?40,280)
Duration of Post:    Two years in the first instance
Location:               Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine,
Dentistry & Nursing, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School Campus,
University of Dundee, DD1 9SY.

The Diabetes Epidemiology Group at the University of Dundee Medical Research
Institute is seeking a skilled programmer to interface with software developers
in the various teams from whom we source data.
The Group is at the cutting edge of exploiting large scale data including,
electronic health records and large genetic datasets, to lead to advances in
disease prevention and medical treatments.
Examples of the sort of work we do include using large scale data on drug
prescribing linked with hospitalisation data to detect and quantify adverse
reactions to drugs used in diabetes care.
Other examples are using large genome wide genotype data linked with clinical
data to understand the genetics of complications of diabetes.

This post provides a great opportunity for an enthusiastic programmer to develop
core expertise in this rapidly expanding field.
Such expertise was recently identified as being of growing strategic importance
for UK science by the Medical Research Council
(http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Utilities/Documentrecord/index.htm?d=MRC007896)
and one where there will be many future job opportunities.

We are seeking a person with good programming skills to provide a key link
between the source of our raw data and the analytics team.
Our data can come from many different sources in different formats and has often
had minimal cleaning or processing before we receive it.
The data providers often provide it as flat files though are moving to holding
data on ORACLE, Netezza and other platforms.
Our analytics team comprises machine learning specialists, biostatisticians and
epidemiologists.
Key attributes are good interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate
clearly, experience with a relational database management package such as MySQL
and familiarity with the LINUX environment.
The appointee should have a sound understanding of good code documentation
practices and tools.

The principal responsibilities of the post are:


  *   Continue development of our current database (now MySQL but you can
migrate to another platform if needed) to create a local front end for analysis
  *   Integrate  data  held in various formats and coming from various platforms
  *   Implement structures and metadata to support data definition, quality
definition and data  transformation from a variety of information sources
  *   Process the data to a state ready for subsequent  analysis using a
language such as PYTHON, PERL or other and write it back to the database for use
by the analytic team who work in R, MATLAB , SAS STATA
  *   Work with the analytic team to improve analytic efficiency such as  by
re-writing some R Functions in  a lower level language such as C  or by
parallelising the  code or application
  *   Work with the analytic team to ensure data flows  and data version control
are adequately documented  and that data analysis code and functions  common to
different projects are organised in shared libraries
  *   Work with the analytic team to ensure appropriate sharing of tools and
methods across specific projects  and to set up the necessary systems to
facilitate this


For more experienced applicants we also envisage a leadership role that involves

  *   establishing operational policies on data processing and data security
across the team
  *   being the point of communication between the  University IT support and
the Diabetes Epidemiology  group and to represent the group in any IT and
computing related discussions across the University
  *   providing advice on investment in software and hardware within the group
  *   participating in the recruitment, management and appraisal of the
programming team as it expands


Person Specification:

Essential:
Experience in setting up and maintaining a relational database
Experience with an open source relational database management package such as
MySQL or ORACLE or other
Experience of working within a Unix/Linux environment
Good interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate clearly
Able to work on one's own initiative
Ability to understand and debug an inherited codebase

Desirable
Experience of working with statisticians
A degree in a related discipline such as computer science, mathematics or
statistics

Experience with an array programming language such as R or Matlab would be an
advantage but is not essential
Experience in any of:  Java, C++,-/- C#, Python,
Experience of developing Web applications & Web Services
Experience of managing a Linux server

Ability to resolve relatively complex issues and manage change
Experience of project management and team management

How to Apply:
To apply on-line please visit:
www.dundee.ac.uk/jobs<http://www.dundee.ac.uk/jobs>.   Please quote
reference number MDN0306.

Potential applicants are encouraged to have an informal discussion about the
post with Professor Helen Colhoun:  please email: m.z.mccann at
dundee.ac.uk<mailto:m.z.mccann at dundee.ac.uk>

The University of Dundee is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes
applications from all sections of the community.




The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096

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